Frank Darabont Talks 'Godzilla' Reboot And How To Write For A Giant Lizard

Ever since Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist, The Walking Dead) was hired to rewrite the Godzilla reboot for Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures for director Gareth Edwards, we’ve been breathing sighs of relief—if there’s anyone who can make a story about a skyscraper-sized, fire-breathing lizard believable and scary, it Darabont (After all, the guy made mist scary. Mist.)

Darabont has begun to speak out about the project (and how to keep Godzilla scary, as he was in the original film, and not the “Clifford the Big Red Dog” friend of children he became in endless sequels):

“What we’re trying to do with the new movie is not have it camp, not have it be campy…We’re kind of taking a cool new look at it. But with a lot of tradition in the first film. We want this to be a terrifying force of nature. And what was really cool, for me, is there was a very compelling human drama that I got to weave into it. It’s not that cliched, thinly disguised romance or bromance, or whatever. It’s different, it’s a different set of circumstances than you’re used to seeing. And that’s tremendously exciting as a writer when you’re asked to do something else.”

As Cinema Blend notes, the film will have its own allegorical meaning (the original film was an allegory for the dangers of nuclear testing and weaponry), but Darabont refused to say what it was. Darabont also stated that there will be some ambiguity to the film (or as much ambiguity as a film about a giant lizard can have) noting “that’s why a movie like The Green Mile is so satisfying or why The Mist is so satisfying to me. Because it stirs their participation and they have interpretation. I’ve heard metaphors that people apply to Shawshank Redemption, for example, that are fantastic that I never, ever would have thought of.”

Getting excited about Godzilla yet? Don’t get too riled up—the film won’t see a release until May 16, 2014.